Ministry Aiming to Present Balanced Budget Early October
Minister of Finance Hon. Hiro Shigemoto says that the Ministry of Finance is working diligently to present a balanced 2012 National Budget early October.
At this point in time, the national budget will be approximately Naf.10 million less when compared to the 2011 budget.
The aforementioned is due to the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) prognosis of little or no growth in 2012.
"The global financial economic crisis especially the uncertainty throughout Europe and the United States is placing great strain on small island nations such as Sint Maarten.
"The global financial economic crisis is not allowing government to add new policies in the 2012 budget when we look at zero economic growth. We are still confronted with challenges coming out of the transition after 10-10-10.
"The country is facing many challenges such as violent crime, high unemployment among youth just to mention a few. The various ministries have programs and projects that they would like to execute but they need money to execute them in 2012.
"Unlike the larger countries in Europe and around the world, Sint Maarten is totally dependent on the outside world and has to also mitigate the external shocks suffered from this dependency and this too costs money. Small island nation states around the world are facing the same challenges.
"Even though the coalition has many new policies, projects and programs, the financial management of the country is priority number one with respect to complying with the financial supervision regulations of having a balance budget," Minister of Finance Shigemoto said on Wednesday.
"We will continue to look at ways and means to get us through these difficult times and we will come out on top as a country as we have always done when confronted with challenges," Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto concluded.